Ache
by IntertwinedDestinies
Summary: Who's behind that mask?


**A/N: **Well, here's something I just wrote up tonight. It's not very long, I'm sorry! Hopefully I'll actually continue with this.

Naruto and it's characters aren't mine, sadly. :( I hope Kishimoto-sama won't mind me using them for a while? puppy eyes

And sorry if the honorifics aren't right. Let me know, and I'll change them if need be!

Hands pulled at clothing; clothing that couldn't be shed quickly enough. His hands were everywhere, eager and urgent. His lips were equally demanding, tasting skin and stealing kisses on their partner's lips; stealing away his precious breath. His teeth were torture, nipping and biting down on sensitive skin. It was too much. Too warm, to fast. His breath was continually hitching in his throat as hands, lips and teeth toyed with his sensitive areas.

The body pressed against his was unbearably warm; the sensation of skin against skin intoxicating. His head felt dizzy, drunk with pleasure. The ANBU tangled his fingers in the mop of his lover's hair, another groan of satisfaction escaping his lips. They rolled their hips against one anothers, both fueled by the arousing moans emitted from the body against him. Hands groped lower and lower at each pass, before they accompanied the grinding of hips; heated breaths and muffled groans and it was soon over.

Both men had replaced their masks, and were fighting their bodies to fend off the encroaching darkness of sleep. It was quiet between them. It was well known that it was taboo to speak after; they were to act like nothing had just occurred, act as if there had been no connection, however slight it might have been.

The sun was rising in the east, its glow lighting the sky in an ethereal pink and yellow glow. Birds in the surrounding forest began their morning ritual of song, awakening the ANBU from their semi conscious states. There was a shared appreciation for life between them, as they cleaned up their campsite, that went unspoken. They were returning home.

--

Not for the first time that morning, Iruka rubbed his fists into his eyes. Sometimes, he swore, he had the worst job in Konoha. But he knew that couldn't be true. Lifting his eyes to his class, he sighed. _Just let this day be done..._ Iruka loved his job, truly. And just as much as he loved his students, there were days like this, where he could tell he was nearing his breaking point. It was the last day before the holiday break and he could sense, mostly from past experience and mainly common sense, that his students were nearly out of their seats with excitement at the prospect of two 'lesson free' weeks. They all bubbled with excitement, which didn't make his job of teaching them on the last day any easier.

The thumping of his headache against his temples was grating on his nerves. The pitch of the noise in the classroom had risen tenfold since the class had begun, and the lunch bell hadn't even gone yet. Iruka figured his best bet was to take them outside, or perhaps to the dojo that was nearby, where they could practice their kunai and shuriken throwing.

Rising out of his seat at the desk in the front of the class, Iruka slammed his palm down on the desk with a resounding smack. When their Sensei was nearing his tolerance limit, the class knew instantly. Voices quieted immediately, and and an uneasy silence settled among the students. If they had one thing to fear, it was Iruka-sensei's wrath. It wasn't wrong to assume that he might hand out assignments over the break, and it was unanimous; no one wanted that. Staring up at Iruka, the class of pre-genin were surprised to see Iruka plaster a lopsided grin across his face. Iruka chuckled. "Now that I've got everyone's attention, I thought we might all go outside for a shuriken throwing contest at the dojo. You've all done very well up to this point, we might as well finish off with something fun." With a resounding cheer, much to Iruka's distress, desks and chairs screeched against the floor as the children fumbled to the door as fast as physically possible.

Sighing, Iruka followed the last of the students out the door, closing it behind him and continuing down the hall. _It's a nice day out...And they _have_ been rather...Compliant lately. _Rubbing his eyes against the glare of the summer sun, Iruka set out in the direction of the dojo, after his students. Hopefully they knew not to do anything stupid on the last day before the holiday. Iruka grinned. _They should know better by now._ It never bode well to tick off the teacher. Specifically if the teacher's name was Iruka.

Later that evening found Iruka in the mission room, sitting at a desk taking reports from shinobi returning from finished missions. Although Iruka wanted to be anywhere but there, he was doing Genma a favor and taking over his shift for the evening. It was surprisingly quiet, on the upside, and Iruka was grateful for the peace and quiet after an aggravatingly long day at the academy. Although, his small apartment beat being at work any day. _I feel like I've been away from home for months..._ A pencil flipped through Iruka's fingers, a small attempt at beating boredom. Kotetsu was sitting down the desk from him, the only other source of life in the room, and even he was sleeping. _I don't have the heart to wake him. He was looking pretty beat earlier._ Iruka was jealous of the other shinobi, but he could never sleep on the job.

"Yo." Iruka was jolted from his thoughts abruptly from the sudden greeting, and turned his head sharply, earning him a painful 'crack' of the neck. Wincing, and bringing his hand up to rub his neck, Iruka looked up in irritation. The ANBU's masked head was tilted slightly as if amused. Iruka was surprised; the blood splattered mask, and empty black eyes were unnerving, no matter how many times he saw them. "Good evening, ANBU-san." Most of the time, returning shinobi would go home to clean and treat wounds and sleep, before turning in reports. It seemed that even the presence of the ANBU had startled Kotetsu, because he was awake and also greeting the ANBU. The masked shinobi looked worse for wear, and from his posture, was in pain. "You should get home, and clean up." Iruka hadn't meant any disrespect by ordering his superior, but out of concern.

"Of course. My report." The flat tone of the ANBU's voice was unnerving, and Iruka found himself having to look away from the black eye holes of the mask. Taking the mission report, Iruka scanned its contents and nodded in approval. "Everything seems to be in order. Thank you, ANBU-san." The shinobi turned and left the mission room without a word, and Iruka sighed, letting the built up tension he'd not realised was in his shoulders, drop. His eyes strayed to the spot where the ANBU had left with a deep frown. He must have been staring for a while, because Kotetsu spoke up. "Oi, Iruka. What's wrong?" Iruka turned to his fellow nin with a smirk. "Nothing. Go back to sleep."

--

It was a quiet night, making the walk home from the mission room an enjoyable one. The headache he'd had earlier had dulled to a weak throb; he could endure it until he got home and to bed. The thought of being able to sleep in the next morning had the shinobi rather excited. _No kids, no missions... _He'd been looking forward to this. The moon cast long shadows along the street, creating an ethereal glow where the bright light shone on the windows of houses and stores that Iruka passed, the crunch of his sandals on the ground breaking the stillness. Not only was the moon bright, but the stars twinkled just as bright, dotting the sky and reminding Iruka of precious gems. Or perhaps the stars were the reminders of those who had passed. _Ka-chan...To-chan..._Before Iruka noticed, he'd made his way across the village and now stood facing his apartment door.

His hand holding the key hesitated before the lock for a moment, before a bit more forcefully than neccesary, turning the key in the lock and banging open the door. The resounding thud of the door hitting the wall broke the silence of the apartment as moonlight flooded in through the open door. Iruka pulled himself inside before shutting the door, plunging his apartment back into darkness. Thoughts of the ANBU from the mission room flooded Iruka's vision as he tried to pull off his sandals in the dark, before stumbling half blind through the hall to his room, as his vision adjusted. Stripping off his clothing, Iruka made for his futon in the corner of his bedroom, and flopped down with a tired sigh. Where the silence had been welcome in the day, the silence of his apartment felt suffocating and only made Iruka realise how lonely it felt. Somehow, the silence here was more deafening than the din in his classroom at the academy. Iruka could hear the flat voice of the ANBU float through his conscious, the familiarity of it sending him reeling. It awoke memories in him he'd wanted to forget, and as he moved to the foot locker at the end of his futon, he fully recognized where he'd seen that certain ANBU before.

While staring at the blank expression of his own dolphin shaped ANBU mask, the memories of a heated night spent with another man spun in his head, and plagued him into the early morning.


End file.
